The Very Last Moment In Time
by Novacaine Nightingale
Summary: AU/OC: The tenth Doctor never regenerated, and now he has a new companion, a man named Callum. The course of true love never did run smooth, but is this even true love at all? Does Callum truly love the Doctor, or is there something far more deceptive going on?


The tenth Doctor hovered over one of the TARDIS's many screens, running his left hand through his thick brunette hair. With a flick of his wrist, a motion that would have been virtually invisible if you hadn't been looking for it, the entire room tilted to the left. The Doctor laughed loudly and turned his gaze to his current companion: A tall, blonde nineteen-year-old named Callum Smith. (Yes, another Smith, the irony was not lost on the Doctor.) "Tell me, dearest companion, where would you like to go on this fine day?"

"You're talking funny again." Callum smirked from his chair on the other side of the console.

"I can't help it!" Exclaimed the Doctor in excitement. "The universe is ours for the taking."

Callum just sat in his chair, smiling. The Doctor always got excited at the prospect of travelling to a new, far off place somewhere in time and space. For the Doctor was not an ordinary man, or rather, he wasn't even a man at all. He was a Time Lord, an alien from a far-off world who travelled through time in his spaceship called the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space.)

After a few heartbeats of silence, the Doctor gave Callum a confused look. "What?"

"Oh," Callum said, snapping out of his thoughts. "It's just you always get so excited when thinking of new worlds to go and visit. It's… and I'm only saying this because I can't think of a better word, not because I want to make you all smug or anything… but… it makes you look really cute."

The Doctor's face burst into a large, smug grin. "See," Callum continued. "That's exactly what I wanted to avoid!"

The Doctor laughed a bit, stepped away from the controls, and walked over to where Callum sat. The Doctor, all brown hair and deep never-ending eyes, stared at the small fair-haired man before him. Compared to himself, Callum was just a barely a whisper in time, and yet, he couldn't imagine travelling the stars with anyone else.

Without warning, Callum leaned up and pressed his lips to the Doctor's. Without hesitation the Doctor kissed back, using any self-restraint he had to keep it just as kissing, and nothing more. No, today was a day of adventure and world exploring, not a day to spend doing… well… that.

As the Doctor finally pulled away from the kiss, as he always had to do since Callum never seemed to want to stop, Callum noted in the final moments that the Doctor's lips were oh so very soft…

"So, I repeat, where do you want to go on this fine day?" The Doctor said, once again resuming his position at the TARDIS's controls.

"How about a winter world? Or something cold, with lots of snow!"

"But you always want to go to a winter world!" The Doctor sighed. "Always. We just spent days and days trekking through the ice glaciers of Galaxon 79, I thought we could go somewhere warmer."

Callum frowned. "But winter is my favorite season."

"I know, I know. I'm not dissing winter or anything, it's just… I like variety and change, and lately we've not been having that. We've been doing what you've been wanting to do, and while I'm fine with that most of the time, I-"

"Why did you ask me where I wanted to go if you're just going to fight me on it?" Callum asked playfully.

The Doctor smiled in reply.

"Okay, Doctor, you win: Take me somewhere warm."

The Doctor jumped in the air and laughed. "Okay, so I was thinking we could go to Nebula Rork, it's a small planet with three suns and two moons, quite romantic, I find. The natural order of it is actually so fascinating. See the suns' gravity is pulling the planet one way, and the moons' the other way. Now you'd think the planet would rip in two, but actually-"

"Doctor."

"Not there then? Okay how about Kara Ma-Ta? It's a planet just outside the solar system, filled to the brim with roses-"

The Doctor's voice stopped mid-sentence. Callum looked toward the Doctor, fear instantly consuming him. It was one of those moments he was always dreading in the back of his mind. Oh how he constantly hoped and prayed that they would just stop, but knew they never would leave as long as he was doing what he was doing. Callum watched as the Doctor's eyes blinked furiously, his voice repeating itself like a broken robot or a skipping record. "Roses-Roses-Roses-Roses-Roses-"

Callum jumped up from his seat and ran towards his backpack, which he kept near him at times, just in case a situation like this were to arise. As he unzipped it, he heard the Doctor still uncontrollably rambling on. "Roses-Roses-Rose… Rose… Rose? Where are you Rose…? T-Ty…? Rose Ty…"

Quickly, Callum pulled a silver thermos out of the backpack and ripped it open, pouring some of the orange liquid inside into the cap. He ran over to the Doctor, saying as he went, "Open up Doctor, have some tea, it's okay… it'll all be okay…" He then poured the liquid into the Doctor's mouth just as the words "Rose Tyler" escaped his lips. Callum watched and waited as the Doctor coughed and sputtered as he choked on the liquid, but he was more so paying attention to the Doctor's eyes as they turned from brown to orange and then back again in a matter of seconds.

After about a minute, the Doctor cleared his throat and looked to Callum with a confused face. "Right, sorry, just a coughing fit. Uh, where was I?"

Callum smiled, relived. He had cut it severely close that time. "You were just about to take me to Nebula Cork."

"Rork." The Doctor corrected.

"Right, sorry." Callum then turned away from the Doctor and walked back to the thermos, quickly putting the cap back on and hiding it inside his backpack once more. The Doctor couldn't see the thermos, it would raise too many questions. Questions he didn't have answers to. Well, no good answers anyway.

Because "poisoning the Doctor" didn't sound all too well.


End file.
